Deer shot on State Road 37

[EM45HP]

My friends and I, all freshman at Indiana University Bloomington, drove up to Broad Ripple today to see a friend at Crackers Comedy Club. On the drive back we were stopped by an LEO on State Road 37 between County Line and Fairview IIRC about 11pm. He had his car stopped in the right lane and was standing next to his car with his hand up. There was a car or two in front of us. There was a truck, and behind it an SUV, stopped on the shoulder. I figured it might have been an accident. Then I spotted the deer, a doe, laying across the dotted line in front of the LEO's cruiser, legs in the left lane, body in the right, head facing traffic; I'm assuming one of the vehicles hit the deer although I did not notice any damage to either vehicle. The LEO was standing left of the deer, the civilian to the right. The civilian bent down and touched the deer trying to get a reaction. The deer laid still. The whole time I was thinking, "If this deer jumps up, this dude is about to have a bad day." The LEO and civilian exchanged words. The LEO then stepped back 6-7 feet from the deer and fired a round into the deer from his duty pistol, I can only assume it was a 9mm or .40S&W caliber Glock. Do cops use JHPs? I'm assuming so. The deer was riled by the pistol bullet to her side. She was seemingly trying to get to her feet, but ended up convulsing on the ground as if having a seizure for a good 5-10 seconds. Eventually the deer stopped shaking the LEO allowed the stopped cars to pass in the left lane. As we passed, I noticed the round looked to have struck the deer a little high and forward of the heart.

By the way, this was a Sheriff (inferring based on the brown jacket and tan pants).

I have included a hand-drawn diagram of the situation below.

I was asked by my friends in the car why the LEO did not just shoot the deer in the head. I responded saying that deer have thick skulls and there would be a high probability of ricochet in a dangerous direction, and would therefore be negligent and unsafe. I actually have no clue if that's why deer aren't shot in the head, but I assumed this was a fairly safe assumption.

So, there's the story. Could someone clarify why we shoot deer in the heart and lungs and not the head, is it a law, unspoken rule, or just a preference by hunters wanting to mount the heads?

Thanks in advance for the answers.

Sincerely,
Eric M.

Edit: photo does not show from my computer so here is the link:
http://s1272.beta.photobucket.com/user/epmarlow/media/image_zps20bc10c7.jpg.html

 

[Shift]

Wait, I'm confused....Where was the suspicious realtor during all this?

 

[Goober135]

Wait, I'm confused....Where was the deputy and the suspicious realtor during all this?

I am genuinely curious to hear this answer though.

 

[EM45HP]

Wait, I'm confused....Where was the suspicious realtor during all this?

I'm sorry, I'm confused by the question. What is the realtor? This may be very obvious and I'm having a dense moment, sorry lol.

 

[.452browning]

I'm sorry, I'm confused by the question. What is the realtor? This may be very obvious and I'm having a dense moment, sorry lol.

It all has to do with this thread.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...075-felony_stop_in_front_of_my_own_house.html

 

[EM45HP]

It all has to do with this thread.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...075-felony_stop_in_front_of_my_own_house.html

Ah, thank you. I actually read that earlier. Just did not put 2 and 2 together.

 

[netsecurity]

Deer have a thick head on top because they have antlers. Their skulls are small and round. But I would assume a shot to the side of the head at point blank would be a no brainer.

Seriously, it makes sense not to risk a ricochette or over penetration, which would bounce off the pavement. Lots of soft tissue in the mid section makes it safe to assume a pistol round would not exit.

 

[EM45HP]

Seriously, it makes sense not to risk a ricochette or over penetration, which would bounce off the pavement. Lots of soft tissue in the mid section makes it safe to assume a pistol round would not exit.

Makes sense and goes along with my thinking as well. Thank you

 

[Never A Victim]

Also, trying to hit the head vs the torso is about accuracy. If the deer is still moving or thrashing about, trying to hit the head could be difficult.

What you saw is very common in law enforcement. With the dissapearing patrol shotgun, most officers are using handguns to put deer down.

 

[EM45HP]

Also, trying to hit the head vs the torso is about accuracy. If the deer is still moving or thrashing about, trying to hit the head could be difficult.

What you saw is very common in law enforcement. With the dissapearing patrol shotgun, most officers are using handguns to put deer down.

The deer was still until struck by the round, but I understand this concern as well.

 

[j706]

We shoot road hit deer on a regular basis. I always shoot them in the head. A body shot will not kill them as quickly and will cause them to thrash around and possibly even get up or take off causing additional traffic hazards. I usually use a 5.56 with 40 grain tap to make the chance of ricochet after pass through or miss almost non existent. Messy but effective.

 

[EM45HP]

I always shoot them in the head. A body shot will not kill them as quickly and will cause them to thrash around... I usually use a 5.56 with 40 grain tap to make the chance of ricochet after pass through or miss almost non existent.

I thought about the LEO using his rifle, but still considered ricochet an accountable factor. Wasn't thinking about special ammo. What is TAP ammo exactly?

 

[netsecurity]

I agree that the deer is more likely to get in the way of traffic if you do a body shot, but think of the liability. If the officer shoots and it ricochets and hits oncoming traffic, you have a shooting "incident", which is a big F'n deal, whether you are a cop or anyone else. If the deer runs into traffic after being shot, and kills someone, well that is an indirect consequence, and "it is the deer's fault". Think about explaining how your ricochet was worth the risk in court.

 

[.452browning]

What is TAP ammo exactly?

Hornady TAP Urban .223 Remington 40 gr

The Hornady® 223 Rem 40 gr. TAP Urban® offers high velocity and reliable functioning even in shorter barreled firearms. It offers nearly instant expansion, complete fragmentation and little to no retained weight making it ideal for situations where collateral risk potential is high (active shooter, entry teams, correctional facilities etc).

 

[netsecurity]

Frangible:

Frangible bullets are not made from a lead projectile covered with a copper jacket, but are composites of hybrid materials either pressed together at high pressure or glued together with adhesives. Frangible bullets are designed to break up into smaller pieces upon contact with harder objects or surfaces. The polymer-compound round produces no splashback and vastly decreased ricochets.

Frangible bullets will break up into small, less harmful, pieces upon contact with anything harder than they are. This maximizes the round's transfer of energy to the object and minimizes the chances that pieces of the bullet will exit the object at dangerous velocities. Each of the small fragments quickly loses any energy and therefore pose very little danger to any secondary targets. This means that full-power frangible bullets can be shot at target all the way up to muzzle contact without any worries that the bullet or case will ricochet and potentially hurt either the shooter or others.

 

[EM45HP]

Hornady TAP Urban .223 Remington 40 gr

The Hornady® 223 Rem 40 gr. TAP Urban® offers high velocity and reliable functioning even in shorter barreled firearms. It offers nearly instant expansion, complete fragmentation and little to no retained weight making it ideal for situations where collateral risk potential is high (active shooter, entry teams, correctional facilities etc).

Thank You.

 

[jamil]

Wait, I'm confused....Where was the suspicious realtor during all this?

 

[traderdan]

I hit a doe and broke her back last summer, late at night,in a neighborhood.I don't know how long she would have lived.I found her heart with a five inch fixed blade.My son had a friend riding in the car with us...he acted like I was a barbarian or something.

 

[nucular]

I hit a doe and broke her back last summer, late at night,in a neighborhood.I don't know how long she would have lived.I found her heart with a five inch fixed blade.My son had a friend riding in the car with us...he acted like I was a barbarian or something.

I can imagine. You should have rubbed some blood on your face for him.

 

[j706]

Hornady TAP Urban .223 Remington 40 gr

The Hornady® 223 Rem 40 gr. TAP Urban® offers high velocity and reliable functioning even in shorter barreled firearms. It offers nearly instant expansion, complete fragmentation and little to no retained weight making it ideal for situations where collateral risk potential is high (active shooter, entry teams, correctional facilities etc).

This stuff shoots like crazy out of my 10" colt. Accurate and hard hitting even though it probably lacks on penetration. I keep 3 loaded pmags of it for my active shooter grab and go bag.

This load flat out detonates a milk jug filled with water. A few very small pieces of pass through is all that comes out the other side. I think it would do the trick on a bad guy as long as they were not behind cover.